The company was quite professional in how they went about engaging the young people and their parents. There was the health & safety briefing which covered all of the hazards they were likely to encounter whilst undertaking the work. This was hammered home to the workers because some had not worked in a workplace where there was moving machinery, in the past. This briefing was a requirement under the applicable legislation, whether the people doing the work were employees or volunteers.
Next, it was made very clear that the people were there as volunteers and that they could not be expected to be paid nor be regarded in any way as employees. There is specific provision for this under the Employment Relations Act. It has to be made very clear that the people are there as volunteers otherwise you can get people claiming they are employees and entitled to all the benefits of being an employee. This is extremely important, especially where the work maybe ongoing and repeated periodically.
The group then undertook the work, with periodic breaks from the organizer to see that everyone was coping and that the tally of work done was up to scratch.
All in all both the business and the group were happy with the outcome; the business got the work done in a relatively short period of time and the group was very happy with the funds raised.
This type of community involvement by businesses is becoming more prevalent for short bursts of quite labour intensive activities such as stock takes or one off filling of orders, or cleaning of venues after major events. It creates a win win situation for the businesses and the community groups, but certain rules must be adhered to.
It is absolutely imperative that health & safety regulations are complied with because these are obligations that cannot be contracted out of by either the company or the community group.
It is also important that both the business and the community group, and its members, understand what the relationship is between themselves. In most cases the people doing the work will be regarded as volunteers and as such will be able to contract out of the provisions of the Employment Relations Act, and other employment legislation such as the Holidays Act. This would be best achieved by having a simple written agreement between the business and the community group, rather than the community group’s members individually.
There is a win win situation for everyone but the basics must be taken care of and this is best done by the written agreement between the company and the community group.
Happy fundraising everyone.
